“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.” (NLT)
“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. (NKJV)
That is Proverbs 13: 20, and it is the perfect instruction on how to pick our friends. Our friends affect us, sometimes in a profound way! This is a WARNING to be careful as to who you spend your time with. A smart person knows that they need to spend time with those who they want to be like. When most people need advice, they go to their friends because their friends accept them and usually agree with them. But that may be the problem when faced with a difficult problem or choice to make. Our friends are so much like us that they may not have answers we haven’t already heard. VERY IMPORTANT…We should seek advice from older and wiser people because they’ve experienced much in life—and have succeeded. They are not afraid to tell you the truth. Wise, experienced people can help you avoid the many pitfalls and heartache in life.
There’s an easy way, and then there’s the hard way. Throughout the first 3 decades of my life… I chose the hard way. I was a know-it-all and nobody knew as much as me. Take advice from someone? Chances are you were somewhat of a hardhead too! Yes, making tons of mistakes and creating all sorts of unnecessary heartache made me search for a better way, and eventually led me straight to Jesus. So I guess all that chaos was used as a catalyst for my salvation. But the Word of God tells me I could have avoided all of that unnecessary heartache by swallowing my pride and taking the godly advice that I so desperately needed those many times!
Our friends influence us. Not all friendships are healthy. Some can actually cause anxiety instead of relieving it. A good question to ask yourself is…”Is this friendship developing me?” Sometimes the relationship is one-way… with one person always taking and not giving. I’ve experienced friendships with needy people. It could be a dependency friendship…where one person absolutely must cling to you at all times. How about being in a fair-weathered friendship… friendship that withers away as soon as adversity strikes, or as long as the money (or whatever attracts them to you) is there. Get the picture? Do you see what this verse in Proverbs is saying? Each of us has to choose what kind and how many friends we want. A few well-chosen, deep friendships are generally more beneficial to us than a wide circle of superficial friends. Friendships should be a nurturing, two-way relationship. They can change us for the better or for the worse. The person who frequently is in the company of a wise friend is likely to become wiser as a result. The person who surrounds himself with fools risks becoming a fool.
“Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.” Proverbs 13: 24 (NLT)
“He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.” Proverbs 13: 24 (NKJV)
I’m not a parent, but I am a messenger for the Word of God. This comes straight from my Bible Commentary…. It is not easy for a loving parent to discipline a child, but it is necessary. The greatest responsibility that God gives parents is the nurture and guidance of their children. Lack of discipline puts parents’ love in question because it shows a lack of concern for the character development of their children. Disciplining children averts long-range disaster. Without correction, children grow up with no clear understanding of right and wrong and with little direction to their lives. Don’t be afraid to discipline your children. It is an act of love. Remember, however, that your efforts cannot make your children wise; they can only encourage your children to seek God’s wisdom above all else!
So, with that said…